


In a Single Breath

by NancyDfan



Category: Nancy Drew (Video Games)
Genre: Angst, F/M, Hospitalization, Memories, Near Death, Sickness, previous character death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-11
Updated: 2020-05-11
Packaged: 2021-03-02 19:48:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,781
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24122362
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NancyDfan/pseuds/NancyDfan
Summary: It takes only one second for Scott to go from his home to the hospital, and Nancy’s forced to face her fears for him and painful memories.
Relationships: Nancy Drew/Scott Varnell
Comments: 2
Kudos: 6





	In a Single Breath

**Author's Note:**

> SO, here’s the thing, I wrote this fic a while back and this bad thing spread across the world. I thought it might be in poor taste to post this fic then. Even with my zero audience. And even though life is still scary, I’ve decided to post this today. 
> 
> Also, I headcanon Scott as a stress smoker. So remember that when reading. 
> 
> Not betad. Enjoy typos.

It starts with a cough. 

The annoying 2:30 in the morning cough that pulls you from your sleep. Scott shakes the bed as he sneezes and coughs and blows his nose on the nearest tissue. Nancy turns with a muffled grumble wondering why he waited until her case ended to get sick and does her best to tune out the latest round of hacking. She spends her days wiping down the counters, glaring at Scott when he leaves tissues sitting on the side table, and hearing the sound of her husband coughing from any place in the house. "He’s driving me crazy," Nancy moans to Bess one evening. 

Then Scott collapses to the ground gasping for breath. 

_"Nancy, stay with Hannah," Carson Drew's voice is controlled panic as he pushes Nancy into the arms of their elderly neighbor._

_"But, daddy!" the frantic ten year old cries twisting away._

_"No, Nancy," Carson is serious this time. Nancy recognizes it on his face. "I'll come get you in a bit."_

_Carson shuts the hospital door in Nancy's face, and she never sees her mother alive again._

"Acute pneumonia," a doctor tells Nancy. She's standing outside an ICU room at the River Heights Hospital. A few hours prior Nancy races to the phone hurriedly dialing 911 as Scott turns a deep shade of red then blue. His coughing subsides by the time the ambulance arrives. But his breath is shallow and ragged, and the emergency squad has to assist him into the ambulance. The doctor lets Nancy know Scott's free to visit, but he's "unconscious. We had to sedate him to insert a ventilator and the IV." Nancy nods her understanding and watches the doctor disappear down the hallway. 

Nancy turns to the wooden hospital door in front of her. She feels her heart beating wildly. It's been years since she's stepped into the hospital outside of her own treatment from the few missteps she's had on her cases. But never for a loved one. Not since her mother....Nancy shakes her head. She takes a deep breath and turns the handle. 

_"Come on, Nancy, say hi to your mother," Carson tells her. Nancy looks up at him clinging to his pants. She shakes her head refusing to budge. The room is disorienting with green walls and beating electronics. "Nancy," he begins again. She eyes him then nods forcing herself closer to the large bed._

Time heals all wounds. That's the saying right? Nancy finds that it's all horseshit. People mean well, but time can make you forgetful. It doesn't mean the wound heals. Especially when stepping into a room similar to the one she visited many times years ago. The room has been updated, less green, she realizes right away, but the smell of sickness seeps through the walls just like they did nearly twenty years ago. Scott's bed is in the middle of the room, and it takes everything in her to force herself across the room to his bedside. She nearly vomits when she sees him. 

Scott's unconscious just like the doctor told her. She feels her breath catch in her throat as her eyes skim his body. A ventilator lays from inside his mouth down to his chest, and the machine next to her beeps every few seconds letting her know his heart is beating just fine. "No offense, Scott, but you look terrible," Nancy tries to joke, but it falls flat. The doctor tells her Scott may hear her even through his sedation, and she hopes her presence helps him through whatever is terrorizing his body. 

"He's stable," the doctor lets her know right away. Nancy's been sitting in the waiting room counting the ceiling tiles and pretending to read the words of every magazine she can find. When the doctor comes to see her, she nearly runs him over with fright. She feels relief to know Scott is stable. Then comes the but. "But we're watching him closely. With his history of smoking, it heightens the symptoms of pneumonia. It's why he couldn't breathe at home." The thought terrifies Nancy. 

"I got a call for a case in Hawaii," Nancy tells Scott's sleeping body. "Hawaii sounds pretty good right now, huh?" Silence. "Maybe we can take a trip once you're out of here. We need one of those don't we? When's the last time we vacationed?" Nancy pauses thinking. The last time they vacationed Nancy remembers Scott getting so sun burned he could barely move for days. She chuckles lightly at the memory then stops when she sees him laying there still. "Has it really been two years? I guess time flies when you're having fun. But maybe we can find something easy for the both of us after this. I think we've earned it." 

The silence in his response tortures Nancy. Her mind soars with a dozen memories of screaming and tears and the sound of beds and carts moving. It's a non-stop horror show playing in her mind. She hears the IV drip beside her, and she's suddenly a ten year old ago asking her dad why mommy wasn't coming home. _This isn't the same thing,_ the rational part of her brain tries to squeeze through. But what if it is? 

The sound of a strangled breath pulls Nancy from her memories. Scott's pushing himself upright in the bed and grasping at the ventilator. "Scott, _Scott!_ What's wrong?" Nancy reaches for him. He looks at her with eyes blown wide with panic, and the scream that escapes Nancy shakes the wall. 

A nurse grabs Nancy by the arm and pulls her into the hallway while another one rushes to Scott. "What's going on? What's wrong with him?" The nurse shakes her head. "Please! We have to help him." 

"Miss, please stay here. We can't help him with you in the room," the nurse holds her until she's confident Nancy won't barge in, and the detective watches helplessly as nurses race in and out of his room. Nancy's nearly passed out with fright when a nurse comes up to her. 

"He's fine," the nurse smiles softly, and Nancy feels her knees buckle. "It's common for patients who require a ventilator. Even though they are receiving adequate oxygen, they may feel as if they're suffocating so they respond in panic trying to rip the ventilator out." Nancy eyes spring wide with horror. "He's been sedated again, and hopefully once we're confident the worst has past, we'll move away from the ventilator. You're free to visit with him again but be careful not to jostle him. This can aggravate the sensation." 

Nancy nods her understanding before slipping back into his room. She sees no evidence of Scott's panic driven episode, and he lays silent in his bed. Nancy sits beside him careful to avoid moving the bed and places a hand softly on his. "I'm scared, Scott," she confesses. She feels tears spring to her eyes. "You probably won't believe me, but I'm not good with hospitals. My mom-my mom died when I was little, and I haven't forgotten how it made me feel. So seeing you here, unconscious, it, it brings back all of those feelings. You're not allowed to leave me like this. Do you understand? I know it may happen one day cause you're older than me but not now. Scott, _not now."_ A sob cuts through the rest of her words, and Nancy falls back into her chair watching him as her body shakes with distress. She wants Scott to answer her, hold her, tell her there's nothing to fear, but he's silent as before. Nancy closes her eyes and prays for him to heal. 

"Good morning, Nancy," a nurse greets Nancy three days later. Nancy nods at her then stops as the young woman motions towards Scott's door. "You have a surprise waiting for you." Nancy cocks a brow then brushes past her into Scott's room. 

"Did you bring the cheeseburger I ordered?" 

Nancy face breaks into a giant grin as she stares across the room at her husband sitting up in his bed. He smiles at her, a weak, tired smile, but one full of promise that he's not leaving her. "Scott!" she races to him and pulls him into a hug. 

"Careful, Nancy, I'm still learning to breathe again," Scott teases. 

Nancy pulls back and glares at him. "That's not funny." 

He cups her cheeks. "It wasn't; I'm sorry." Scott presses a kiss to her forehead. "I'm okay though. I promise." 

"Are you sure?" Nancy questions looking him over and listening to him breathe. 

"Okay, I'm probably okay," Scott concedes falling back into his bed. "But the worst has past, and the doctor thinks I should be fine. Eventually." 

"You scared me," Nancy grabs his hand and squeezes gently. 

Scott nods. "I know." she looks up at him. "I, I heard what you said. While I was out," he adds, shrugging. "I guess I wasn't fully unconscious while I was sedated." He pulls her hand up and presses his lips against her knuckles. "I'm sorry for scaring you. I never meant for this to happen." 

Nancy looks away. "I know." She chews at her bottom lip. "But we have to take steps to prevent this from happening again. You had a cold, Scott, and now you're in the hospital. You could have died." 

"But I didn't." 

"But you could have," she eyes him with a frown. "You have to stop smoking." 

Scott laughs then doubles over coughing. Nancy's next to him watching him through it all. He straightens with a loud breath. "I'm okay," he gasps out, and he waves off the water glass she’s grabbed. She eyes him disbelieving. "I promise I'm okay. I'm not suffocating, but I still have a cough. I guess I shouldn't laugh like that for now." 

"You're an idiot," she pushes hair out of his eyes. "And I mean it. You have to stop smoking." 

"That won't happen, Nancy." 

She pushes her lips into a pout. "For me?" 

He gives her a sad look. "I don't think you know how addiction works." Nancy's shoulders sink. He then grabs her hand again. "But I'll try. I won't promise I'll succeed, but I'll try. We already have less time together than most people do, and I don't want to squander what we do have." 

"Thank you," Nancy smiles then presses a kiss against his cheek. She leans into his chest, and Scott wraps his arms around her. "And thank you for sticking around." Scott whispers a "welcome" into her hair then kisses her head. She closes her eyes and rests into the sound of his steady breathing. 


End file.
